Prohibited Actions With Designated Bad Actors

These prohibitions apply to any entity formally designated a bad actor under GOVERNANCE.md. They do not apply to entities that are merely alleged, rumored, or under review — see Principle 2.

For each relationship type: the default action, and the narrow exception path where one exists.

Selling to

Prohibited. No product, service, or license sale, direct or through a distributor/reseller once known. Existing contracts should include a human-rights-triggered exit clause; where none exists, wind down on the shortest legally available timeline.

Buying from / procuring from

Prohibited as a new supplier relationship. Existing supply relationships should be transitioned out on a defined timeline rather than terminated in a way that harms workers further down the chain — an abrupt cutoff can hurt the workers the prohibition is meant to protect.

Sponsoring or co-hosting events with

Prohibited. No financial sponsorship, co-branding, or joint hosting of conferences, summits, or public events.

Hiring from

Prohibited for senior/decision-making roles where the hire would materially benefit from or continue the designated conduct. Not intended to bar individual employees fleeing a bad-actor employer from being hired — the prohibition targets the institutional relationship, not individual workers.

Donating to

Prohibited. No corporate philanthropy, in-kind donation, or foundation grant.

Investing in

Prohibited for new investment. Existing minority holdings should be reviewed for divestment on a defined timeline; direct control positions should be exited.

Accepting investment from

Prohibited for new capital. Existing cap table positions require legal review — this is the hardest case to unwind and should not be handled unilaterally by the team that owns this framework.

Partnering with (joint ventures, alliances, MOUs)

Prohibited. No new partnership agreements; existing ones wound down per contract terms.

Joint development / co-development / technology transfer with

Prohibited without exception — technology transfer to a designated bad actor is one of the highest-risk relationship types this framework covers, since it can directly extend the actor's capability to cause harm.

Volunteering with

Prohibited for company-sponsored or company-branded volunteer programs (e.g., corporate service days, skills-based volunteering). Not intended to restrict what employees do on their own time in an individual capacity.

Exceptions process

Any exception to the above (e.g., humanitarian access, legally mandated activity, safety of personnel) must be documented, time-bound, and approved through the same independent review function that handles appeals in GOVERNANCE.md — not approved by the business unit that benefits from the exception.